Golden Temple…A pride in its own grandeur

Family outing! The fun of long drives, the zippy times together, and the excitement of visiting new places. With thoughts huddling our mind; we decided to visit the Golden Temple at Vellore. Having heard enough about the splendor and sumptuousness of the temple we took the roads to enjoy the long drive. The journey lasted for 3 hours and we reached Vellore by sunset. The beauty of the Golden Temple after sunset was one, which we didn’t want to miss on. We parked our cars about a kilometer away from the temple and took share autos to reach the temple. My uncle, managed to have a word with the share auto wala who cautioned us to take up the free darshan.

Devotion and holiness is what the Golden temple claims of???

On entering the temple premise we noticed that most of the devotees were clad in red with a mala (chain) matching their clothes. We made our way to the free darshan queue where there was segregation of gender. The queue for the women was apparently longer. There were rule breakers who managed to jump the queue system, which irked us.

The queue system lasted for an hour for a distance that could have been covered in 10 minutes. Was it the popularity of the temple that brought it so many crowds? Read on..

Managing our way through the unruly queue, we landed on a cell (If I can call it one). There were banners at the entrance of the cell, indicating that the darshan will last for 3 hours. It was a room made of iron rods on all the four sides with asbestos roof. With LCD televisions to entertain, cafeteria to quench your hunger there were 4 cells in total. The cells also had rest rooms near the exit. The segregation was no more in vogue.

Once inside the cell, we noticed that there were whistles blown to indicate that the gates would be opened and that the devotees could proceed. Since the cells had no concrete walls it was tough to comprehend the origin of the sound. 5 minutes inside the cell, we noticed people running towards the exit. Animalism is what I would term it. Kids and the elderly were stamped. Even if you would suffocate to death, people wouldn’t move. All they wanted to do was to leave the cell as soon as possible, irrespective of your existence. After about an hour, the gates were opened. People pushed their way out and if you survived, it was destiny.

Out of the cell, the trauma was not over. Another queue was awaiting our way. After all the hardships, we were pushed to the frisking zone. Baggages were screened and people checked. If you manage to cross the queue by mistake due to the rush, you can hear a hard thump on your back (a strike by the temple authorities, an act of sanctity indeed).

Out in the open air, breathing fresh air after about 2 hours, there was a sign of happiness in our face. Before worshiping the goddess, all the devotees have to walk the shape of a star for about 5 kilometers approx. On either sides were banners of the person who had built the temple (No comments). Walking the distance we arrived at the temple.

The temple dome was glittering with all the richness that one can imagine. The magnificent stature shone in the night-light, posing a treat to the eye. The wait was worth it, the splendiferous view, the dazzling feast; I have no words to describe the beauteousness of the temple.

Tired and exhausted, we managed to make our way to see the goddess. On getting closer to darshan area we realized that the devotees could see the goddess from just a kilometers distance and just for a few seconds. If you manage to stand and exceed the few destined seconds, filthy words would fill the air, a shower from the temple authorities.

All of us were shocked from the scenes, which had lasted for 3 hours. On the way out, we noticed a crowd approaching us (in the opposite direction), with praises loud and unclear. Initially we thought that it was the goddess who was on her little tour around the temple. Folding our hands in holiness we went closer to see the goddess. This very minute made us regret all the efforts we had taken to see the almighty. The person who built the temple projecting himself to be god, posing like one, hearing praises about his own self and with a light to make his face brighter was approaching the temple. He was blessing the devotees on his way to the temple. Struck by the scene, we moved forward towards the exit. We noticed that the human god had come to the temple in a SUV, with special access through the wrong entrance. Temples, a holy shire or a money wending machine?

On the way back to the exit of the temple, we realized that the temple was just a few minutes walk from the gateway, for which we had to spend 3 hour.

We didn’t want to discuss or think about the experience of visiting the Golden Temple. We enjoyed the drive home, the highways were a pleasure to drive, clean and sumptuous. The best part of the outing was the long drives…

Connecting people? Really?

The tangible and visible entity that makes us available everywhere. The accessory that is more docile, and that which bestows on us the privilege of the world in our hands. Yes, I’m an indeed talking about our mobile phones. Text, images, music, internet, maps and all that you can imagine of – just a click away.

By mid day I had the opportunity to visit a link that explains the experiments at the Nokia test center. The information that the link provided was indeed a surprise to me. The link describes the various tests that a mobile phone undergoes before reaching the market. It was indeed disheartening to see the tests that a phone has to undergo. The tests include the keypad-pressing test, bending test, dripping water test, drop machine test to name a few. Machines that were specially designed for this purpose carried out these tests. I was taken aback when I saw the video on that page describing the various tests. Visit this page and you will indeed agree with my views: http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/11/25/the-stuff-that-happens-in-nokia-test-centers/

Nokia is indeed a scene-stealer! Read on!!

My mom has a Nokia handset. One that is not expensive with the basic features that any phone can corroborate. The phone failed in operation and we (my mom and I) took it to the nearby Nokia Care center. The scene, which follows, describes what is called customer service and care!!

The Nokia Care center was located on the first floor of a small-housed building. The staircase was not brightly lit. It was like entering a derelict bungalow.

Once we were inside the service center, it was dispiriting. There were chairs arranged like that of a classroom with people occupying all of them, except for the fact that there were no tables. On to the front there was a glass room where the service people were experimenting on the various models and versions of the Nokia phone. The forepart consisted of a desk behind which there were three people who attended to customers.

We were completely at sea. After about 2 or 3 minutes we realized that the service center followed the token system. The token generator was located on the corner of the room in line with the door entrance, which abides the idea of having to look at it. We got a token for our phone and were waiting for vacant chairs. Only later did we realize the token numbers were called out manually (at least most of them).

The duration we had to wait was over 2 hours and the experience that we had there was storming. Customers complained of not having gotten back their phone for over 3 months. Few pleaded to the service people to return their phone irrespective of its working condition. Every alternate customer posed a question on our mind about the quality of the service being provided. There were strenuous arguments, pleadings and of course lines of reasoning from every customer on the validity of getting back the phone.
The scene, which lasted for more than hour, was indeed a nightmare to us. The point that distressed me the most was the rather hard pinging reply that the customers got back from the service desk. They were lethargic and impatient. It made us get nervous. The time came when we had to give our mobile to the service desk.

We walked forward with numerous questions in our minds. The service personnel asked us to fill in some details on a form and asked us about the nature of the complaint. We provided information and the phone was taken inside the glass room for a battery check up. We were told to leave our phone with them and return 3 hours later. My mom was suprised by the reply and she politely asks the lady at the desk as to whether the phone will come back to working condition. The reply that we got was that they needed 3 hours to understand what was wrong with the phone. (Fine! They had a lot of phones that were ready to be serviced.) Not done with her reply, the lady continued to say that it would take minimum a month to return the phone. (OMG!) Not addressing the nature of the issue, how can service personnel decide on the duration of having to return the phone?

There were thousand questions running in our minds by now. My mom and I looked puzzled at each other. The only thing that ran in our mind was that we could always get a new phone than walking up to the care center every week (like others customers did).

We told the lady that we would service it outside and without a single thought or confession she returned the phone to us.

Later during the day we decided to check the phone in an unauthorized cellular service/ sales outlet. The phone was repaired in 5 minutes (Can you believe that!!!) and the only single problem was that the power switch wasn’t functioning. To address this issue Nokia Care required a month!!! There was nothing wrong with Nokia; it was with the service center. Two sides to the same coin is all I can say!!!